Owatonna, Minnesota Union Depot
Owatonna, Minnesota Union Depot
Owatonna Minnesota’s Union Depot was built in 1887 and served both the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western railroads as a passenger and freight station.
The founder of the Owatonna Tool Company, Reuban A. Kaplan, saved the depot from the wrecking ball in 1977 and had it moved to a spot on the company’s grounds. After Kaplan had the elegant building restored, it was used as a meeting facility by OTC and is still in use by OTC’s successors.
For many years, the Illinois Central No. 201 steam locomotive (which had reportedly been driven by famous engineer Casey Jones) was displayed here.
Kaplan and his son had the locomotive moved to the future depot location in 1975 before the depot itself was moved. In the early 2000s, the 201 was sent to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
The story doesn't end there, though. Kaplan didn't move everything. There was a baggage shed that was on one end of the main depot that was left. You can see it in the old postcard of the depot. It sat in its spot, derelict and vacant, for many years.
Enter Jerry Waldrop. He bought the small building for $1 in 1992. He and his daughter along with a friend spent a year disassembling it and then reassembling it in Waldrop's driveway. He has filled the old relic with more relics - bits and pieces of railroading history. WCCO TV ran a story about this other piece of Union Depot called "Finding Minnesota: Owatonna's Old Train Depot." I highly recommend watching it if this kind of stuff interests you.
That still isn't the end of Owatonna's railroading story, though. The town's Union Depot served the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western railroads, but the Rock Island line ran through Owatonna, too, and had its own depot.
The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific depot in Owatonna was built in 1901 and torn down in 1985, but was so well-loved that a historical marker was placed on the spot where the depot once stood.
The text of the historical marker tells it all:
Once on this site there stood a beautiful red brick and limestone railway station that was part of the great Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway System. It was a stately building that served our community and the Rock Island System proudly for over 60 years. Its' demise was premature and unfortunate; however, its' importance and historic legacy is secure. It was an invaluable contributor to the growth and history of all of Owatonna and Steele County.
Built around 1900, it served as both a passenger and freight depot. It saw men and women off to serve their country in World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam. Some inevitably saw their families here for the last time. It was the site of several Presidential visits, including Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. It was a gathering place to a myriad of people traveling to destinations all over the United States. Open at all hours of the day, every day of the year it always provided warmth and security to many a weary traveler.
It is for these reasons that we erect this monument to commemorate this site and remember the people that passed through its' doors on their life's journeys and also to honor the people that were a part of the great Rock Island Railway System.
